Friendship Social Support Networks of African Americans.

Friends are crucial for companionship, sharing personal thoughts and feelings, and are positively associated with psychological well-being and mental health. This is one of the first studies to provide an in-depth investigation of social support networks of African American friendship. Using a nationally representative sample of African American adults drawn from the National Survey of American Life, this study investigated sociodemographic correlates, as well as expanded information on marital status and life circumstances of friendships.

Racial/Ethnic Differences in Loneliness Among Older Adults: The Role of Income and Education as Mediators.

Background And Objectives: Loneliness is a major public health concern; however, limited research has examined the mechanisms contributing to racial/ethnic inequities in loneliness. Race/ethnicity has been hypothesized to be a distal factor influencing loneliness, and racial/ethnic inequities in loneliness may be attributable to socioeconomic factors (e.g.

Social Isolation, Self-Rated Health, and Self-Rated Oral Health among African Americans.

Social isolation is associated with worse health; however, few studies have examined the health effects of isolation among African Americans. The purpose of this study is to evaluate associations between social isolation and self-rated physical and oral health from the National Survey of American Life, a nationally representative sample of African Americans. Social isolation was operationalized to reflect both objective isolation (lack of contact) and subjective isolation (lack of emotional closeness).

The role of subjective, interpersonal, and structural social isolation in 12-month and lifetime anxiety disorders.

Background: Anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent psychiatric conditions worldwide, and the incidence of anxiety disorders among adults in the U.S. have increased over the last decade.

The state of loneliness and social isolation research: current knowledge and future directions.

In this editorial, we consider the current state of loneliness and social isolation research around the world, including knowledge gaps in the empirical literature.

Loneliness and Psychological Distress Among Older Californians: The Moderating Roles of Citizenship Status and English Proficiency.

Objectives: Guided by the theory of stress proliferation, our study examined whether loneliness, citizenship status, and English proficiency were associated with psychological distress among older adults, and if citizenship status and English proficiency moderated these relationships.

Methods: Using the older adult subsample (65+ years) of the 2019-2020 California Health Interview Survey (N = 15,210), we assessed cross-sectional associations between loneliness, citizenship status, and English proficiency on psychological distress by conducting multivariable linear regression models. Interaction terms were included in subsequent models to determine if citizenship status and English proficiency moderated the relationship between loneliness and psychological distress.

Later-life depressive symptoms during the Covid-19 pandemic: Investigations of individual, cumulative, and synergistic effects of social isolation.

Objectives: This study examines associations between social isolation and depressive symptoms among Hong Kong Chinese adults aged 65 and older by investigating the distinct effects of individual indicators, cumulative index, and typologies of social isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Methods: We used a sample of 260 older adults from a cross-sectional, city-wide online survey targeting 1,109 aged 45+ adults through purposive sampling. Seven indicators of social isolation (not married; living alone; not engaging in social/organizational activities; no social contact with friends or families; lack of family and friends networks; loneliness) using Cornwell & Waite's framework were selected to construct three unique types of social isolation measures.

Discrimination and social isolation among African Americans: The moderating role of skin tone.

Objectives: Discrimination is an urgent public health problem. A number of major cities and counties across the United States has declared racism a public health crisis. While there is a growing body of research on the discrimination-health connection, less is known regarding the social relational consequences of discrimination.

Racial/Ethnic Variation in Family Support: African Americans, Black Caribbeans and Non-Latino Whites.

Objective: This study examined racial and ethnic differences in the receipt and provision of instrumental family support.

Background: Extended families provide significant levels of emotional and instrumental support across the life course. Despite their importance, extended family relationships and the assistance they provide are largely neglected in the literature.

Religious Involvement and Sleep Among Older African Americans.

This study sought to determine whether religious involvement is associated with sleep quality in a nationally representative sample of older African Americans. The analytic sample included African American respondents aged 55+ from the National Survey of American Life-Reinterview ( = 459). Religious involvement variables included service attendance, reading religious texts, watching religious television programs, listening to religious radio programs, prayer, and subjective religiosity.

The Intersection of Pain Outcomes and Social Isolation Among African Americans.

There is increasing evidence suggesting the influence social isolation has on health outcomes and mental well-being. Chronic medical conditions, such as pain, have been shown to impact social relationships and isolation among majority populations, but there is little evidence documenting this relationship among African Americans. To address this lack of scholarly work, the current study aimed to examine subjective and objective social isolation, pain interference with daily life, and problems with pain in a sample of African American adults 18 + years of age.

Neighborhood Characteristics and Inflammation Among Older Black Americans: The Moderating Effects of Hopelessness and Pessimism.

Background: Research documents the adverse health effects of systemic inflammation. Overall, older Black Americans tend to have higher inflammation than older non-Hispanic White adults. Given that inflammation is related to a range of chronic health problems that disproportionately affect Blacks compared to Whites, this racial disparity in inflammation may contribute to racial disparities in particular chronic health problems.

Social Isolation's Influence on Loneliness among Older Adults.

Social isolation and loneliness are significant risks to health among older adults. Previous studies have found a significant association between social isolation and loneliness; however, few studies examined the association between social isolation and loneliness in a multivariate context and how specific types of social isolation influence loneliness. This study fills this gap by examining social isolation's overall influence on loneliness and how specific social isolation indicators influence loneliness.

Older Black Americans During COVID-19: Race and Age Double Jeopardy.

The concept of "double jeopardy"-being both older and Black-describes how racism and ageism together shape higher risks for coronavirus exposure, COVID-19 disease, and poor health outcomes for older Black adults. Black people and older adults are the two groups most affected by COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. Double jeopardy, as a race- and age-informed analysis, demonstrates how Black race and older age are associated with practices and policies that shape key life circumstances (e.

Social isolation from family and friends and mental health among African Americans and Black Caribbeans.

Social isolation is a significant social problem in the United States that many health and welfare organizations have begun to acknowledge and address. Unfortunately, extremely little research focuses on social isolation among ethnic minority populations. This study investigated the association between social isolation from family and friends and the mental health of African Americans and Black Caribbeans.

Professional service use among older African Americans, Black Caribbeans, and Non-Hispanic Whites for serious health and emotional problems.

This study examined racial and ethnic differences in professional service use by older African Americans, Black Caribbeans, and Non-Hispanic Whites in response to a serious personal problem. The analytic sample (N = 862) was drawn from the National Survey of American Life. Findings indicated that African Americans and Black Caribbeans were less likely to use services than Whites.

Objective and Subjective Social Isolation and Psychiatric Disorders among African Americans.

Social isolation is a major problem in the United States that has adverse impacts on health and well-being. However, few studies investigate social isolation among African Americans or the impact of social isolation on psychiatric disorders. This study addresses this gap by investigating the impact of objective (absence of contact with others) and subjective (lacking feelings of closeness to others) social isolation on psychiatric disorders among African Americans.

Social support from friends and depression among African Americans: The moderating influence of education.

Background: This cross-sectional study examined the association between various characteristics of friendships and 12-month major depressive disorder (MDD) and whether these associations vary by education level among African Americans.

Methods: The analytic sample included 3434 African American respondents drawn from the National Survey of American Life: Coping with Stress in the 21st Century. Logistic regression analyses were performed to test the associations between friendship characteristics (i.

Loneliness in senior housing communities.

There are many studies on loneliness among community-dwelling older adults; however, there is limited research examining the extent and correlates of loneliness among older adults who reside in senior housing communities. This study examines the extent and correlates of loneliness in three public senior housing communities in the St. Louis area.

Correlates of Objective Social Isolation from Family and Friends among Older Adults.

This study examined the correlates of objective social isolation from extended family members and friends among older adults. The analysis is based on the older adult sub-sample of the National Survey of American Life ( = 1321). Multinomial logistic regression analyses examined race/ethnicity, demographics, functional health and family and friend network factors as correlates of objective isolation from family and friends.

Social Isolation, Depression, and Psychological Distress Among Older Adults.

Objective: To investigate the impact of objective and subjective social isolation from extended family members and friends on depressive symptoms and psychological distress among a national sample of older adults.

Method: Data for older adults (55 years and above) from the National Survey of American Life ( N = 1,439) were used to assess level of objective social isolation and subjective social isolation and to test regression models examining their impact on depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression [CES-D] Scale) and psychological distress (Kessler 6 [K6] Scale).

Results: The majority of respondents were not socially isolated from family or friends; 5% were objectively isolated from family and friends, and less than 1% were subjectively isolated from family and friends.

Family and Friendship Networks and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Among African Americans and Black Caribbeans.

Although there is a large literature on the influence of social support on mental health there is limited research on social support and OCD. This is especially the case for African Americans and Black Caribbeans. This study examines the relationship between family and friendship networks and the prevalence of OCD.

Assessing Social Isolation: Pilot Testing Different Methods.

Social isolation is a significant public health problem among many older adults; however, most of the empirical knowledge about isolation derives from community-based samples. There has been less attention given to isolation in senior housing communities. The objectives of this pilot study were to test two methods to identify socially isolated residents in low-income senior housing and compare findings about the extent of isolation from these two methods.